Ditching machine



Sept. 26, 1961 L. s. FREDERICK 3,001,303

DII'CHING MACHINE Filed Nov. 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Leroy S. Frederick his ATTORNE Y Sept. 26, 1961 Filed Nov. 27, 1959 L. S. FREDERICK DITCHING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR. Leroy 8. Frederick his A7lORNEj p 26, 1961 L. s. FREDERICK 3,001,303

DITCHING MACHINE Filed Nov. 27, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Leroy 8. Frederick BY M his ATTORNEY 3,001,303 DITCHING MACHINE Leroy S. Frederick, Oakvale Blvd., Butler, Pa., assignor of ten percent to Joseph E. Hampton, ten percent to Harry F. Smith, and twenty percent to Howard W. Patterson, all of Butler, Pa.

Filed Nov. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 855,776 7 Claims. (Cl. 37-94) My invention relates to ditching machines such as those employed in digging trenches for the laying of conduits,

pipes, sewers and for receiving foundations or footings therefor.

One object of my invention is to provide a rotatable ditching device preferably mounted on a driven wheeled frame, for traveling movement wherein means are, provided on the periphery of a rotatable drum for not only excavating and removing the dirt in the forming of a trench, but also for breaking up shale, stones and other hard material, to permit the digging elements to remove such material in a loose condition and dispose of it alongside a trench.

, Another object of my invention is to provide an improved form of machine, wherein the digging elements are disposed peripherally on a rotating drum driven from a traveling carriage and wherein the support for the drum and the power transmitting elements from the carriage to the drum. will not interfere with the movement of the drum vertically into a trench to a greater depth than one half the diameter of the drum, notwithstanding the fact that the overall width of the drum and its support is greater than the width of the drum and its digging elements.

Some. of the forms which my invention may take are shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of one form of the machine.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the combined hammer and digger elements of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the element shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a modified form of the connecting link of FIG. 3.

- FIG. 6 is a plan view of my invention as mounted ona. tractor.

FIG. 7 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view of a hydraulic motor for driving the drum that carries the hammer and digger elements.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view thereof.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic View of the fluid pressure system and its operating elements of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 6. and 7.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged detail of any one of the valves ofFIG. 10..

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the dirtdischarging trough of FIG. 7.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, I show a carriage for the trenching machine that may be manually pushed by the operator where the trenches to be dug are small. In this case, the carriage is designated by the numeral 11, provided with four wheels 12, and upon which is mounted a motor 13, which may be of the small horsepower gasoline type such as those employed on hand-pushed lawn mowers. The motordrives a shaft 14 that is journaled in the frame and upon which is mounted a driving pulley 15 which, through a belt 16, drives pulleys 17 and 18 that are mounted on a shaft 19.

The pulley 18, through a belt 20, drives a shaft 21 that is journaled in a rocker arm or boom 22, the shaft being further supported or braced by a bracing bar 23. The arm 22 is pivotally supported on an extension of the shaft 19. Upon rocking of the boom 22 about its pivot,

the shaft 21 will be raised and lowered, the rear portion of the member 22 being adjustable to different heights along vertical guide members 25, by a pin 26 that extends through holes in the guide members, so that the shaft 21 and the digger elements supported thereby can be raised and lowered during the operation of digging a trench.

The hammer and digging elements are mounted in circumferential rows upon a drum 27 which is here shown as comprising discs 23, 29 and 30 that are bolted together and rigidly supported upon the shaft 21. A greater or lesser number of discs may be employed if desired. In any case, each disc carries a circumferential row of combined hammer and digger elements designated by the numerals 31 that are connected to their respective discs by links 32, through yokes 34 and 35 and pins 34a (FIG. 3) that extend through the elements 31. Any desired one of the four digging edges 36, 37, 38 and 39 may be brought into operative position, by removing the pin 34a for adjustments. The body portions of the elements 31 are made rather massive so that they will serve as hammers to break up hard material such as stone and shale and permit removal thereof from the trench line, by the digging edges. The members 31 are recessed at the area between the edges 36-38, this concavity permitting resharpening of the digging edges from time to time.

When the straight link 32 of FIG. 3 is in use, the digging edges 36 or 38, depending upon the direction of rotation of the digger, will be effective. The connections 32-3435 permit only slight rotative movement of the digging element so that the digging edges 36 and 38, or

37 and 39' will be retained in digging position. When the twisted link 33 of FIG. 5 is used instead of the link 32, the digging elements will be so positioned that their edges 37 and 39 will serve the digging function. The

1 links 32 and 33 will be distributed alternately along the periphery of the discs so that one digging element will at a given time, have its edges 36 and 38 in effective digging position while the next digging element, held by a twisted link 33' will have its edges 37 and 39 in operative position. When the edges at 36 and 38 become worn their digging element 31 will be removed from the yoke 34, through withdrawal of the pin 34a, and one of the digging elements on the link 33 will be detached therefrom and the positions of the two diggers transposed, so that in one case the edges 37 and 39 will be brought into action and the other case, the edges 36 and 38 will be rendered eifective, since the twisted link of FIG. 5 enables the positioning of the diggers at degrees from the position shown in FIG. 3. i

As the operator pushes the carriage 11 along the terrain, the gasoline motor 13 will rotate the drum 27 through the driving connections above referred to, and the operator will gradually raise the rear end of the arm or boom 22 to lower the drum. The drum shown will dig ditches of rather shallow depth, which is about onehalf the overall diameter of the digging apparatus, when the members 31 are radially extended through centrifugal force, the drum being rapidly rotated to not only break up hard materials, but also to render efiective discharge of the loosened materials from the trench line. For ditches of much greater depth, apparatus similar to that disclosed in FIGS. 6 to 9 will be employed.

As a safety measure, a shield 40 such as indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7 will also be employed with the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2. This shield serves to protect the operator and bystanders against flying stones. It will be supported on the boom by a bracket plate 40a.

The use of only a single link 32 or 33 avoids excessive whipping of the digging elements such as would occur it several connecting linkswere employed.

In order to remove dirt from the trench, I provide a trough 70 (FIGS. 7 and 12) for receiving and deflecting dirt and cuttings that are loosened and thrown out by the digging elements 31. The trough is suspended from the shield 40 by hangers 71 connected to the shield it), either at the front or the rear end of the shield, depending upon the direction of travel of the excavating apparatus. There will be a pair of hangers 71, each link being suspended from an ear or lug 72 on the outer sides of the shield 40, the lower ends of the links being pivoted to the trough 70. At its lower edge, the trough 70 has an apron 73 which initially receives the dirt at the bottom of the trench as it is loosened by the diggers. The dirt or loosened material is given suflicient momentum by the diggers to project it along the trough to an apron 74 at the upper end of the trough. A deflector plate 75 is pivoted either at 76 or 77 to the upper end of the trough. In its position shown in FIG. 12, the plate 75 will divert the material to one side of the trench, while when its pivotal connection is changed to the pin 77 and it slopes in the opposite direction, it will deflect the dirt to the other side of the ditch.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 to 12, I show the apparatus mounted on a conventional form of tractor 41. A base plate or bracket 42 being secured to the frame of the tractor. A swivel 43 is pivotally supported at 44 on the base 42, and is oscillatable about the pivot as hereinafter explained, to effect swinging movement of a boom 45 that carries the digger drum 27 that corresponds to the drum of FIGS. 1 and 2. The boom 45 is pivotally mounted at 46 on the swivel 43 so that the drum can be raised and lowered as indicated in FIG. 6 by a fluid pressure cylinder 47 which is mounted on the swivel 43. The swivel 43 is oscillated about its axis 44 by a fluid pressure cylinder 4 8 whose piston has a link connection 49 with the swivel.

As the trench is deepened, pressure will be admitted to the lower end of the cylinder 47 to raise the piston rod 51 which is connected to the boom 45, by means of control apparatus hereinafter described. Also in order to dig ditches of varying width as well as to make them much deeper than permitted by the hand-operated apparatus of FIG. 1, the cylinder 48 has fluid pressure admitted thereto to rock the swivel 43 about its pivot, thus swinging the front end of the boom 45 laterally and enabling the digger to out along either of angular lines 52 and 53 so that the boom and the drum can be lowered into the ditch'more deeply than shown in FIG. 6. Usually the tractor will be operated in a forward direction with the drum driven clockwise as indicated in FIG. 6, but it will be understood that the tractor may be driven in either direction or the drum rotated in either direction. If the soil being excavated is crumbly, the tractor may be driven backwardly so that its weight will not cause collapse of the ditching wall. The tractor will, of course, be driven with its conventional motive power. Hydraulic power for driving the hydraulic motor 6%) in either direction will be supplied from a motor 55 and a compressor 56, through lines 57 and 58 (one of which will be pressure and the other return flow), past a valve 59 which is a four-way valve of the type shown at 64 in FIG. 11, to the hydraulic motor 66" that is secured to the shaft 21, which corresponds to the shaft in FIG. 1.

When it is desired to swing the boom 45 either vertically or horizontally with the drum 27 not rotating, the valve 59 will be closed. Upon opening of a valve 61 of the type shown at 64 in FIG. 11, exhaust and pressure connections to the cylinder 47 will be established to effect raising and lowering of the boom. Pressure can be admitted to either end of the cylinder, by means of the four-way valve 61, thus when pressure is admitted past the valve to a pipe 62, pressure will be admitted to the upper end of the cylinder and exhaust therefrom will be through pipe 63, to raise the boom. In Order to rock the boom in a clockwise direction, thus lowering it, the valve 61 will be turned to establish pressure through the pipe 63 and exhaust through pipe 62.

The boom will be oscillated in a horizontal direction about the vertical axis 44 through the use of the four- Way valve 64 that controls pressure and exhaust flow to the forward and rear ends of the cylinder 48 through lines 65 and 66, as may be desired. It will be understood, of course, that pressure can be supplied to either end of the cylinders from the discharge end of the hydraulic pump 56, and that exhaust from the cylinders as well as from the motor 60, will be'back to the intake side of the pump.

I claim as my invention:

1. A ditching machine that comprises a frame suitable for traveling movement, a boom pivotally mounted on the frame on a horizontal axis adjacent to its inner end and its outer end projecting in the direction of travel and movable in a vertical plane about the pivotal mounting, a drum rotatably mounted on said outer end, on an axis parallel to the pivot at said mounting, digging elements disposed peripherally on the drum and having link' connections with the drum that support them in radially-projected positions by centrifugal force, during rapid rotation of the drum, means for rotating the drum in a direction to move the digging elements in a direction to move earth from the ditch upon contact thereof with the ground, the elements having cutting edges on their outer ends, a semi-circular shield carried by the boom and disposed above the upper portion of the drum, and a trough carried by the boom in vertically spaced relation to one edge of the shield and extending upwardly in a sloping direction from a point below the drum to a plane above the axis of the drum.

2. A machine as recited in claim 1, wherein a deflector plate is angularly disposed across the upper portion of the trough in position to deflect therefrom in lateral directions material thatis projected into the trough by the digging elements.

3. A ditching machine that comprises a frame suitable for traveling movement, a boom, a bracket that supports the rear portion of the boom on the frame on a horizontal axis, means for pivotally connecting the bracket to the frame on a vertical axis, means for oscillating the boom about the vertical axis, a drum rotatably supported on a horizontal axis on the forward end of the boom and extending beyond the said end, digging elements connected to the periphery of the drum and projecting radially therefrom, a rotary hydraulic motor mounted in the drum and serving to rotate the drum and the digging elements, one end of the drum serving as a chamber for the motor and being closed by a cover plate that is secured to the boom, and pressure supply lines extending from said frame and through the cover plate.

4. A ditching machine as recited in claim 3, wherein the motor is reversible and pressure is selectively supplied through either pipe and exhaust through the other pipe.

V 5. A ditching device for excavating trenches, which comprises a frame adapted for traveling movement, a drum rotatably mounted on the frame, means on the frame for raising and lowering the drum, combined digging and hammer elements pivotally connected by links to the periphery of the drum and projected radially therefrom by centrifugal force upon rapid rotation of the drum, the outer faces of the said elements being recessed to such depth that their edges will serve as the digging devices and to remove excavated materials from a trench during advancing and lowering movements of the drum along the line of the trench, and a sloping trough carried by said frame in position to receive the excavated material from the digging devices and deflecting it to one side of the line of said traveling movement, the body portions of said elements being located closer to the axis of the drum than the said digging devices, and serving as hammers to break hard objects.

6. A ditching device for excavating trenches, which comprises a vertically-movable drum that is rotatablymounted on a horizontal axis and digging elements pivotally-connected by links to the periphery of the drum and projected radially therefrom by centrifugal force upon rapid rotation of the drum, the outer faces of the digging elements being recessed to such depth that they will serve not only as digging devices but also serving to remove excavated materials from the trench during advancing and lowering movements of the drum along the line of the trench.

7. A ditching device as recited in claim 6, wherein the recessed edges of the digging elements have four rectangularly-arranged cutting edges and the elements are respectively adjustable about their axes, relative to the link connections with the drum, whereby the cutting edges can selectively be brought into working position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 888,900 Jackson May 26, 1908 889,464 Jackson June 2, 1908 892,056 Jackson June 30, 1908 1,035,056 Shubert et al. Aug. 6, 1912 1,245,675 Caceres Nov. 6, 1917 1,812,292 Haiss June 30, 1931 2,169,079 Bosworth et a1. Aug. 8, 1939 2,347,378 Swank Apr. 25, 1944 2,527,974 Tostenrud et al. Oct. 31, 1950 2,531,732 Hoffman Nov. 28, 1950 2,597,485 Hillyer May 20, 1952 Swertfeger Oct. 12, 1954 

